Alien Facehugger

[Agisis]

Hello. I spent some time over the weekend making a Alien Facehugger prop. I used one of the models I found on thingiverse and, after several major modifications to it due to incorrect proportions, finger lengths, air sacs, and the missing probiscus, I printed it out in black ABS. I then used yellow Milliputty to build out the details. Each leg is hand wired, painted with acrylics, and then I used Dragon Skin Smoothe-On that I colored (and spending hours moving the silicone back to the right areas as it slowly firmed up). I've got one more coat to do, but I thought you sci-fi fans like me might enjoy my work. Alien is my favorite movie of all time and I always wanted a face hugger to call my own. lol

[ZakRabbit]

That. Is. Awesome!

[Captain Starfish]

Wow, nice work!

[Jimustanguitar]

You should teach the rest of us how to finish models like that!

Have you published a tutorial or Instructable on this? You could enter this one into one of the Instructables Halloween contests for sure!

[Khalid Khattak]

Please if you can write up the procedure..ur work is awesome

[Agisis]

Hm. I never really thought about documenting what I do. That is the first time I've ever done something like this and I kinda just sat down and did it. I have a number of important improvements that need to be made to the base model and also some important improvements I would make to the joints and way I applied the silicone. I think I am going to take another stab at it, but this time make it full-size. This was only about 1/2 size. I'm going to try to find a good universal joint for the tail and better ball joints for the legs. Now I am wanting to make a full sized egg.

[Eaglezsoar]

Quite impressive! Great job!

[Jimustanguitar]

I have a number of important improvements that need to be made to the base model and also some important improvements I would make to the joints and way I applied the silicone. I think I am going to take another stab at it, but this time make it full-size. This was only about 1/2 size. I'm going to try to find a good universal joint for the tail and better ball joints for the legs. Now I am wanting to make a full sized egg.

If you're using the same model that I downloaded, it's a pretty crummy STL. If you're an artist at all, it's a really cool file that needs some TLC.

You ought to give the instructables contest a try. There's also a first time author's contest, so you could enter two at once with the same write-up.

[Agisis]

The STL is a bit crummy, but hey, it was good enough to work with lol. I'm improving the STL right now and making a number of important improvements to the joints, body, and tail. It will take me a while because I'm being hit hard at the office lately, but I'll keep plugging away at it. I will think about the instructables contest. I'm not super thrilled with what I produced and want to have another go at it with a ton of improvements to not just the model, but also how I managed the joints with the silicone and try my hand at some silicone painting instead of under-painting with acrylics.. Maybe I'll document it better this time as part of the instructbable.

[Khalid Khattak]

I will think about the instructables contest. I'm not super thrilled with what I produced

Man..dont underestimate your talent... You will be a contest winner... My vote will be with u...

[Agisis]

I am roughly 50+ hours into sculpting a new FaceHugger. I've finally printed the body and it looks soooo much better than the one above which I simply took from Thingiverse and added a few touches here and there. To accomplish this, I've spent the last two weeks teaching myself Blender which has been an artistic boon for me. I can now sculpt anything I want as though I am working in clay and print it. Anyway, i'm tweaking the legs now and have big plans for the tail. Bottom line is, this thing is going to be light years better than the first one I made. I can't wait to post the pics, but first I am going to be entering it into the SeeMeCNC Halloween contest so I am rushing to get this puppy fully printable with strong ball joints that are tight. Then I have to do all the silicone work on it.

[teoman]

That is very awesome!

Shall you be sharing the files? My brother would just love this.

[keokolo]

Nice job. Post processing and finishing are what can make 3D print builds final objects. Being able to paint the finished pieces removes the complexity of multi color filaments and careful sanding, heat gun, and primer coating can make prints look fantastic. This is a build that is done in parts and it looks like the joints have ball joint. Being able to flatten it makes support removal easier. The support on the one from thingiverse worked but the amount of support plastic used was just as much as the build, plus that support removal must have been a nightmare.
[img]http://thingiverse-production-new.s3.am ... atured.jpg[/img]

[Agisis]

Yeah, I saw that one as well and though about printing it a before choosing the articulated simple one as a pet project. You are right that the amount of support materials was nuts for that, but it is a beautiful scan he did. The new files I'll be posting have two parts to everything and i've pretty much re-sculpted about 80% of it. No more flat bottoms to the legs and body. It requires some gluing for each half of the body and legs, but you get something a lot more detailed and flowing like the model you posted above, but without the supports and it will be able to be posed. Mostly spending time right now making sure the joints are not only strong, but very tight. Unfortunately, I've been fighting with a stupid speck of dust in my nozzle that I finally was able to dislodge after losing about 5 attempts to print a leg. Frustrating, but now I have a good system to get rid of the dirt clogging the nozzles! seems to happen mostly when I change from PLA to ABS. I wonder if the very high temperature of ABS causes some small pieces of PLA to burn so bad they turn hard in the nozzle and then clog it up. Not sure though.

[c0nt4ctu5]

Man you did an awesome job with this file. I'm a huge fan of the Aliens franchise and as soon as I saw this I knew I had to print it. Took me about 35 hours with the settings you suggested but I didn't have everything dialed in perfectly so I had to use a dremel to sand out some of the ball joints. But 4 hours of sanding and 4 bottles of super glue later I managed to get it all together. Some of the legs are stiff enough to support it but most aren't so I'm thinking of trying to put something in the joints to gum them up a bit, and I need to paint it.

[Agisis]

Looks awesome man! Some of the joints ended up very stiff and sometimes some weren't as tight as I would like. From what I observed in Aliens, (watched it last weekend for the 500th time with my kids), they seem to run fairly low to the ground anyway and not too upright, just enough that the body is lifted up off the ground. That said, what worked for me is a dab of hot rubber glue in the joints. I let it set then I worked them a little bit. That seemed to help. My problem is the joints were stiff until I painted it and the paint got down in the joints and made them looser. meh.

This is the first time I have ever seen something I made recreated by somebody else! How cool is that!